It has long been desired to produce articles of manufacture from bamboo as an alternative to wood. Wood, particularly hard wood, although a renewable resource, typically takes between 20 and 80 years from the time it is planted until it is ready to be harvested. Further, harvesting of the world's old growth rain forests is a destruction of nature which takes many centuries to renew.
It is therefore desirable to develop an alternative to wood based products, which still have the advantages of wood products. These include being able to cut the products to size, staining or otherwise finishing, and being durable.
Bamboo is a grass product, and is one of the fastest growing plants in the world. A bamboo plant reaches maturity in approximately two to three years from the time it is planted. Further, bamboo is an extremely abundant plant in many of the world's regions, particularly in developing countries. As such it would be desirable to utilize bamboo as an alternative to hardwood. There have been many attempts to process bamboo so that it may be used as an alternative to hardwood in construction, flooring, and articles of furniture.
However, these attempts have been largely unsuccessful, for several reasons. Firstly, bamboo stalks are cylindrical in shape, and have a hollow core, which is undesirable. Secondly, bamboo has a high sugar content, which may lead to insect infestation, causing a deterioration in the integrity of the bamboo, and a short useful life. Additionally, there may be problems associated with discolouration of the bamboo over time, and cracking or warping of bamboo products when exposed to variations in temperature and humidity.
While there have been several attempts to produce articles of furniture, flooring, and other items from laminated strips of bamboo, these attempts have been largely unsuccessful in overcoming the above described problems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,551 to Chu discloses a laminated bamboo board, having a number of longitudinal layers and a number of lateral layers. Each of the layers is formed separately by aligning bamboo strips in parallel relation, and bonding together with an adhesive. Subsequently the longitudinal layers and the lateral layers are bonded together in overlapping relating, to form a laminated bamboo board.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,818,321 and 4,968,549 to Shimizu disclose a method of making a laminated material from annual ligno-cellulosic stalks. The stalks are cut open in the direction of the stalk's fibre. The stalks are then flattened with a roller press and arranged in parallel relation to form a number of sheets. The sheets are then bonded together with a resin and heat is applied.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,543,197 to Plaehn discloses a method of forming a laminated bamboo beam, which is prepared by splitting and drying the bamboo stalks, applying adhesive to the stalks and arranging randomly in parallel relation, and compressing the stalks under high pressure to form a laminated bamboo beam.
Despite each of the foregoing attempts, there is still a need to develop a laminated bamboo article which is useful to make furniture, flooring, and other products which could otherwise be made from wood. A laminated bamboo product is required which will not deteriorate due to insect infestation, will not crack when exposed to variations in humidity and temperature, and which may be worked with in a manner similar to hardwood.